Senior executives from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and U.S. Chamber of Commerce have co-authored an October 14, 2014, letter to members of Congress urging the lawmakers to “authorize and direct the Secretary of Agriculture to rescind elements of [country-of-origin labeling (COOL)] that have been determined to be noncompliant with international trade obligations by a final [World Trade Organization (WTO)] adjudication.” Citing Americans’ jobs as a primary concern, the executives argue that the regulations requiring muscle cuts of meat to include COOL would harm the United States’ relationship with its neighbors. “We are especially concerned that, should the WTO litigation conclude with a ruling of noncompliance by the United States, Congress would be unable to amend the statute prior to Canada and Mexico, our two largest export markets, instituting WTO-authorized retaliation against U.S. exports,” the letter said. “The history is clear. Buyer supply chain needs result in export markets being…
Tag Archives COOL
A bipartisan group of 32 federal lawmakers led by U.S. Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) penned an October 6, 2014, letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee asking its leaders to “reject efforts to weaken or suspend Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) through any continuing resolution or omnibus appropriations bill” pending a World Trade Organization (WTO) decision on the United States’ meat labeling dispute with Canada and Mexico. According to their letter, “anonymous foreign sources continue their efforts to undermine COOL,” making it essential that the Committee “not allow these rumors from abroad to preemptively weaken U.S. law before the dispute resolution process has run its course.” U.S. consumers, they contend, “have the right to know where their food comes from and farmers should be able to market their livestock as born and raised in America.” Issue 540
According to the Wall Street Journal, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has decided for Canada and Mexico and against the United States in a battle over country-of-origin labeling (COOL) of meat products. The decision has reportedly been disclosed to the three governments and is expected to be made public in late September or early October, after which the United States has 60 days to appeal. Canada and Mexico argued that the COOL rules harmed them by restricting their competitiveness. In recent months, members of the food industry and of Congress have argued against the COOL requirements. Additional information appears in Issues 529 and 533 of this Update.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a panel’s March 28, 2014, denial of the motion for preliminary judgment filed by meat producer interests in litigation challenging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations requiring retailers of “muscle cuts” of meat to list the countries of origin and production (country-of-origin labeling, or COOL) as to each step of production—born, raised or slaughtered. Am. Meat Inst. v. USDA, No. 13-5281 (D.C. Cir., order entered April 4, 2014). Additional information about the March 28 decision appears in Issue 518 of this Update. A court majority voted to rehear the case before the full court on May 19 and ordered the parties to brief a supplemental issue: “Whether, under the First Amendment, judicial review of mandatory disclosure of ‘purely factual and uncontroversial’ commercial information, compelled for reasons other than preventing deception, can properly proceed under Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, 471 U.S. 626, 651…
In a letter signed by 110 members of Congress, U.S. Reps. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Rick Crawford (R-Ariz.) have urged Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Michael Froman to rescind the country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico if the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules against the United States in its investigation of U.S. COOL regulations. The letter reportedly suggested that Congress is working on a permanent solution to the issue, and it warned that a WTO ruling against the United States could result in detriment to the U.S. economy. “Congress must be prepared to act and find a solution that maintains a healthy relationship with our trading partners and protects the American economy,” Costa said in a July 31, 2014, statement. The letter echoes a similar argument made by food industry groups in July 2014 correspondence. Additional information on the food…
In a 9-2 en banc decision, the District of Columbia Circuit has affirmed an earlier panel decision that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) can require meat producers to include country-of-origin labeling (COOL) on their packaging. Am. Meat. Inst. v. USDA, No. 13-5281 (D.C. Cir., order entered July 29, 2014). The First Amendment allows for such required disclosures because the government’s interest is sufficient, the court found. Additional information on the American Meat Institute’s constitutional challenge and the D.C. panel’s decision appears in Issues 518 and 520 of this Update. In its discussion, the court interpreted the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, 471 U.S. 626 (1985) to reach beyond mandated commercial labeling necessary to correct deception to include the “factual and uncontroversial disclosures required to serve other government interests” at issue in the COOL context. The language in Zauderer “sweeps far more broadly than…
Several major food companies have sent a letter to four U.S. senators and representatives urging Congress to direct Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to suspend revised country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules on muscle cuts of meat because they discriminate against Canada and Mexico. The letter argues that if the WTO determines that the rule violates U.S. trade obligations, it could authorize retaliation from Mexico and Canada, which “has already issued a preliminary retaliation list targeting a broad spectrum of commodities and manufactured products that will affect every state in the country.” The new rules dictate that meat producers must disclose where their livestock was born, raised and slaughtered and can no longer commingle livestock from differing origins to ensure COOL accuracy. The food company coalition has also challenged the new U.S. Department of Agriculture rules in federal court, and the case is pending after an en banc rehearing in the D.C.…
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling denying the motion for preliminary injunction filed by meat producer interests in litigation challenging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations requiring retailers of “muscle cuts” of meat to list the countries of origin and production (country-of-origin labeling or COOL) as to each step of production—born, raised or slaughtered. Am. Meat Inst. v. USDA, No. 13-5281 (D.C. Cir., decided March 28, 2014). The regulations at issue were adopted in 2013 in response to a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling finding their predecessor to violate the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. They “increased the required level of precision” to address each production step and also “eliminated the special allowance for commingled meat.” The plaintiffs argued that the amended rules ban commingling and thus alter “production practices over which the COOL statute gives the Secretary no authority,” and that the…
Speaking during a North American Meat Association conference in Chicago, Canada Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz reportedly called on the United States to resolve a dispute over country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements for pork and beef by including provisions in the Farm Bill currently under consideration in the U.S. Congress. Ritz claimed that the rules, now before a World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel to decide whether provisions found in violation of WTO obligations now conform since they were revised, have cost Canada more than $1 billion annually. He also indicated that Canada has already prepared a list of retaliatory measures it will take if WTO rules in its favor. National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson reportedly bristled at the minister’s remarks, saying “Recent threats by the Canadian Agriculture Minister are unjustified and out of line. As a sovereign nation, we should not take direction from Canada. They do not dictate what…
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has reportedly established a compliance panel at the request of Canada and Mexico in an ongoing dispute over the U.S. country-of-origin (COOL) meat labeling rules. Canada’s International Trade Minister Ed Fast and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz applauded the WTO action, saying that the United States must “respect its international trade obligations and put an end to mandatory Country of Origin labeling.” Canada argues that recent changes to the COOL implementing regulations did not bring them into conformity with WTO obligations. Because the compliance panel consists of the original members who found that the U.S. law was unfair to foreign meat producers, the Canadian officials suggest that the process will be accelerated. If the challenge succeeds, “which may include an appeal to the WTO Appellate Body, Canada could seek authorization from the WTO to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports.” Meanwhile, meat and livestock organizations that…
